After G-23 meeting, Rahul Gandhi meets Congress veteran Bhupinder Singh Hooda

PTI, Mar 17, 2022, 2:47 PM IST

A day after the crucial meeting of G-23 leaders, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met Bhupinder Singh Hooda and is learnt to have discussed revamping the party and the way forward following its loss in five Assembly elections.

G-23 is a group of dissenting Congress leaders who have demanded organisational overhaul.

After the meeting, Hooda, the former chief minister of Haryana, visited Ghulam Nabi Azad, a part of the G-23, at the latter’s residence.

Hooda and Azad were reported to have discussed concrete proposals to strengthen the Congress and ensure collective leadership and decision making as demanded by the grouping which met on Wednesday and signed a joint statement.

Sources said Deputy Leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha and another G 23 leader Anand Sharma also joined Hooda at Azad’s residence in the deliberations.

The grouping had yesterday said the ”only way forward for the Congress was to adopt a model of inclusive and collective leadership and decision making at all levels.” The G-23 sources said they want to strengthen the Congress and ”not undermine it in any way.” Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Hooda is significant in the context of the G23 statement and the telephonic conversation Azad had with Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday to convey the intentions of the meeting at his residence.

Sources said Azad was likely to meet Sonia Gandhi with proposals soon and discussions were underway on course correction within the party.